CEOs call for national energy strategy

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Washington Bureau

Updated 7:38 pm, Monday, February 25, 2013

Photo: Associated Press File Photo

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Lights shine on a hydraulic fracturing drilling rig near Three Rivers in South Texas. A panel of CEOs released a plan Monday recommending that the government work more closely with the energy industry to take advantage of rising domestic production. less

Lights shine on a hydraulic fracturing drilling rig near Three Rivers in South Texas. A panel of CEOs released a plan Monday recommending that the government work more closely with the energy industry to take ... more

Photo: Associated Press File Photo

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A truck carrying pipe rolls by in Yorktown, south of San Antonio. The town is benefiting from the Eagle Ford Shale, part of rising U.S. energy production.

A truck carrying pipe rolls by in Yorktown, south of San Antonio. The town is benefiting from the Eagle Ford Shale, part of rising U.S. energy production.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News File Photo

CEOs call for national energy strategy

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U.S. business executives on Monday unveiled a plan to rev up the U.S. economy by producing more oil and gas, boosting energy efficiency and supporting renewable power.

The 76-page plan by the Business Roundtable, dubbed “A CEO Vision for America's Energy Future,” lays out a broad blueprint for lawmakers and the Obama administration to capitalize on increasing domestic oil and gas production and energy-efficiency gains.

Honeywell International CEO David Cote said the group believes the U.S. needs a “competitiveness agenda” with energy as a priority.

Chevron Corp. CEO John Watson said the government should work with the industry to develop a national strategy.

“The dramatic rise in U.S. oil and natural gas production is creating jobs and economic growth across America, but our ability to take full advantage of the historic opportunity in front of us depends upon the right policy framework,” Watson said.

The executives recommended the U.S. expand access to public lands and waters “to ensure reliable supplies of coal, oil and natural gas,” while “streamlining the permitting and approval processes” for projects such as pipelines to transport the supplies.

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Watson cited the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would ferry oil sands crude from Canada to the Gulf Coast. The State Department is reviewing the $7 billion project.

The executives also insisted that any new federal environmental rules should undergo “thorough net cost-benefit analysis” and consideration of how they might hike energy costs or restrict economic growth.

The panel also tapped into industry concerns that a new layer of federal regulations governing oil and gas drilling would conflict with state rules already in place or create new obstacles to development. The Business Roundtable recommends ensuring that future rules for federal tracts are developed in consultation with states.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management is honing a plan to force disclosure of chemicals used at wells on federal lands. After unveiling a proposal last May and taking public comments on the plan, the department decided to rewrite the initiative. A new proposal is expected later this year.

The measure is set to be the first major federal rule governing the hydraulic fracturing process that is credited with unlocking oil and gas supplies nationwide.

The regulation would cover a sliver of the United States' onshore oil and natural gas production — roughly 6 percent and 13 percent respectively, according to ClearView Energy Partners — but industry officials fear it could provide the foundation for broader mandates in the future.

The oil and gas industry generally has argued that state regulators are best positioned to oversee drilling.

The group sees opportunities for the U.S. to foster innovation in new energy technologies, mainly by sustaining public investments in premarket work on promising ways to improve energy efficiency or to diversify the power supply.

The CEOs want the U.S. to back projects that could demonstrate the viability of equipment to capture and store carbon dioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels.

That still-developing technology offers the potential for existing coal-fired power plants to keep running, and new ones to be approved, without violating environmental mandates on carbon emissions.

The group dodged a specific recommendation for the Obama administration as it weighs whether to allow more exports of liquefied natural gas. Dow Chemical Co., another member of the Business Roundtable, has taken a high-profile role by arguing that unfettered exports could erode a competitive advantage that U.S. manufacturers now enjoy.

But Cote said bringing more supplies online could ensure affordable raw material for both exporters and U.S. manufacturers.

“Encouraging more production overall ... is the smart solution here,” he said.